Yet another developer blog has cropped up on the Camelot Unchained site as Mark Jacobs continues to outline his vision for the game. In the latest, Jacobs discusses the power of choice and why it truly matters to the game and to players.

[W]e also want players to know that as they play through the game, their ongoing choices of weapons, crafting, play-style, etc. will also have a real bearing on not only their skills/abilities but also on their bodies.  I cannot say that “Every choice you make matters!” because well, that would simply not be true.  What I can say is that if a player swings an axe 1000 times, it will affect their character’s strength.  Conversely, if they are struck with 1000 axe-blows, it will also take its toll (do not worry; we are not talking about perma-death).  Further, while we want CU to be a class-based RPG, we also want to give the player a lot of freedom to choose skills, armor, etc. for their character without worrying about a never-ending list of absolute restrictions regarding who can wear what armor, use what weapon, etc.  Now, what happens to the magic-user who wears too much metal (or the wrong kind), or spends too much time wielding that sword or “crossing the streams” is another matter entirely but the choice is yours.  While there are some restrictions, they will be few in number, as we want players to be able to have fun with the system.  This is one of the reasons why I am not calling CU a “Sandbox MMORPG” (IMO, a true sandbox MMORPG has almost no restrictions whatsoever) but rather an MMORPG with some strong sandbox elements.

Read the full post on the Camelot Unchained site.

Further, while we want CU to be a class-based RPG, we also want to give the player a lot of freedom to choose skills, armor, etc. for their character without worrying about a never-ending list of absolute restrictions regarding who can wear what armor, use what weapon, etc.  Now, what happens to the magic-user who wears too much metal (or the wrong kind), or spends too much time wielding that sword or “crossing the streams” is another matter entirely but the choice is yours.  While there are some restrictions, they will be few in number, as we want players to be able to have fun with the system.

I really liked this part, I loved the option to wear leather 'looking' armor in EQ so that I was not labeled as a caster due to the dress (robe)

I also like the "negitives" that might be present due to 'wear' or 'using' the wrong thing too long.

Sounds very good, lets hope ''balancing'' and whining won't ruin wonderful oldschool rpg customization (and no, not how you look, that's not the important part of customization in a rpg imo).

Especially love the wows that give both advantages and disadvantages, just like in Fallout.

I like everything I've heard about this game so far, especially what he said in this article.... 

Hope to see more developers focusing on more specific groups of people, instead of just making a game "for everyone"...... Witch usually means that a brainless person can play it....

sounding good, but i've learned what sounds good doesn't always play good.

i'll be keeping an eye on this though.

i missed the first dark age of camelot and always heard positive things about it.

Originally posted by knallpulver

I like everything I've heard about this game so far, especially what he said in this article.... 

Hope to see more developers focusing on more specific groups of people, instead of just making a game "for everyone"...... Witch usually means that a brainless person can play it....

Kickstarter gives a possibility to do this now. If the group is big and/or rich enough, games like this can be made. No publisher would ever give you money for an MMO if your plans are to make it for 50-60k people.

When Paizo were running their kickstarter for Pathfinder Online, I was tempted to go for it and support them but a few things held me back... the innexperience making MMOs and especially a non-traditional one (in that they were going outside the standard WoW mold and while potentially more rewarding... riskier).

Also, I thought their rewards for being willing to put up money for financing their project at such an early stage was incredibly lackluster.

But this is very different... while this is completely outside the mold... Mark Jacobs is not only very experienced but he has lots of experience doing exactly this kind of stuff. Also you get the feel that they're not trying to make some kind of Triple A MMO as a great experience for the people that are looking for that kind of experience... and not just saying stuff that will just reach the maximum level of attention from the general market.

(provided they don't insult me with ridiculous rewards like +1 STR trinkets or an exclusive cape that exclusive until it's not)